Bracket for valance rails



Aug. 26, 194-1. I A POWELL 2,254,019

BRACKET FOR VALANCE RAILS Filed June 7, 1939 IN ENTOR: RRTHUR POWELL a MQM HTTORNE Patented Aug. 26, 1941 BRACKET FOR CERAILS :Arthur *PowelLeBirniingham, England, :assignor of :one moiety to :W. A. Hudson, Limited, London,

England, .a vcompany -of Great Britain .and 7 .Northern lreland v iApiilication June 'l, 1939, Serial No. 277,765 flniGreata-Britain September-1B,: 1 938 (01. 248-r-i22f7) 3 Claims.

l'iThiszinverition relates to brackets for "valance zirailspand hasifor its object to' p'rovide a-bracket with a: cam imovement' which shall be easily and -iefiectivelyfoperable.

iakcoording'ito theiinventio'n' fl provide a: bracket safer avalanee i rails :f-comprising lttwo members piv- 1otally :conne'cte'd :togther and 'shap'ed -so as to 5.1mm JjaWS adapted to 1139?" opened a'n'dclosed by movement iahout' Fsa-id BpivYOtitO 1 engage the "web -==and;:.flange .ofras'flanged Frail :in isu'ch a m'anner athatrone :ofrsaid? membersiis held cagainst angular 1.mo rement'rrelative"itossaidfiiange and web' by-en- .zgagement Etherewith, Lith'e iother' 'member ibeing smova'blersan'diassociable with: the valanceirail by means of a hook so disposed that a plane passinglthrduhitheiilongitudinal axes of the pivot and the last mentioned movable member contains a contour of the hook or aprojected bent contour thereof, the hook being so disposed that the valance rail when in position serves to prevent pivotal movement of the said member to open said jaws. I e

The accompanying drawing illustrates two forms of device made in accordance with the present invention, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of one form;

Fig. 2 is a plan thereof and Fig. 3 is an inverted plan thereof;

Fig. 4 is a part longitudinal section of the form shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of another form.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 a' long fiat strip a is provided with a hooked part b at one end. At the other end 0 the strip a first is turned down in the same direction relative tothe strip as is the hook b, and then is turned outwardly away from the hook and parallel to the strip and is rounded off at one side or corner to form a camedge d. The length of the strip from hook I) to cam-edge 01 may be conveniently about 2 inchesf A shorter flat strip e, of conveniently about 1%; inches long, is attached to the long flat strip a by a pivot pin 1 which passes through the said long flat strip a at a place on the longitudinal medial axis thereof adjacent the downward turn g of said long flat strip, and between said turn g and said hook I). From the hook I) to the pivot pin J may be 2 inches, the distance from the pivot pin 1 to the cam-edge d being.

4; inch, so that the leverage of the cam is preferably greater than unity, in other words the distance between the point of greatest action of the cam and its pivot being less than the colinear distance between said pivot'and the point of application of the forceactuating said cam.

:The end 'of thiS*shortenstripe adjacent the said oami-edge dis bent over and "turned back on itself toform a hook or fiange' h "facing towards said Loam edge,"which hook "h an'd cam edged have their :edges =so sp'aced apart -that when in "their tn'earest :position they will just allow the Lpassage ofthe web iGfan I-raiI 1' and are so "spaced away 'irom the shorter flat *strip e 1 that they will when in the -nearest' posit-ion 'fit over the fopposite s'urfaces of aifla'nge k of said--I-rai1 which areat 'ri'ght-angles to-the =web i- -of said I'srail 7'.

The tend m of said sl1orter-strip 'remote' from ithe hook' th'ereoi may be provided with-a suitable 'projection adapted to batch in --a =suitable reto engage with a suitable lateral upstanding projection q on the long strip a. Thus the relative angular movement of the pivoted members is limited.

In use by turning the long strip a round so that its longitudinal axis makes an angle of about with the longitudinal axis of the shorter strip 6, the two strips 0., e may be so disposed that a flange k of an I-rail a may be passed between the side of the long strip a which is curved to make a cam surface d and the hook it on the shorter strip e, and fit between the fiat part of the shorter strip e and the hooked part h thereof. On turning the long strip a back until its longitudinal medial axis is co-linear with that of the shorter strip e the cam edge d grips the web 2' of the I-rail against the edge of the hook it on the shorter strip e which edge is transverse to the longitudinal axis of said strip. The valance hook member a thus locks the bracket in position and will keep it so locked until the valance rail is removed from hook b. v

In a modified form of construction as illustrated in Fig. 5 the shorter strip is extended in a direction away from the hook b, on the other strip a. As in the previous example from the hook I) to the pivot pin ,2 may be 2 inches,

the distance from the pivot pin fto the camedge at being inch, so that the leverage on the cam is preferably greater than unity. In

this case the extended strip e may have lateral hooks h, h instead of one single transverse hook adapted to engage the I-rail web and flange in the same manner as said transverse hook. The end of the extended strip e remote fromits pivot 1 may be turned at right angles to the body of the'strip either to form a fiat lug or a boxshaped part 1. The lug may be orificed so that the bracket can be ailixed by screws or nails to a suitable support. The box shaped part r may be similarly orificed but in more than one direction at s, if, so as to afiord a choice of planes in which its support may lie. Thus the bracket may serve both as a support for an I-rail, which is clamped in position by the cam edge, and for a valance rail by means of hook I).

It will be seen that in the construction shown the valance rail when in position in the hook b serves to lock the strip a against movement about the pivot pin 1.

It will be evident that the details of the invention may be varied in many ways without departing from the scope thereof, for example the shape of the flange-engaging surfaces may be varied to suit requirements.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A bracket for valance rails comprising two members pivotally connected together and shaped so as to form jaws adapted to be opened and closed by movement about said pivot to engage the web and flange of a flanged rail in such a manner that one of said members is held h against angular movement relative to said flange and web by engagement therewith, the other member being movable and associable with the balance rail by means of a hook so disposed that a plane passing through the longitudinal axes of the pivot and the last mentioned movable member contains a contour of the hook or a projected bent contour thereof, the hook being so disposed that the valance rail when in position serves to prevent pivotal movement of said member to open said jaws.

2. A bracket for valance rails wherein the bracket comprises two fiat pivoted strips one of which is provided with a hook adapted to engage part of a web and flange of an I-rail and the other of which is provided with a cam edge normally directed towards said hook and adapted .to engage the opposite part of said web of said I-rail, the hook being so disposed that a plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the pivot and the first mentioned pivoted strip contains a contour of the hook or a projected bent contour thereof, the hook being so disposed that the valance rail when in position serves to prevent pivotal movement of said member to open said jaws.

3. A bracket for valance rails comprising two members pivotally connected together and shaped so as to form jaws adapted to be opened and closed by movement about said pivot to engage the web and flange of a flanged rail in such a manner that one of said members is held against angular movement relative to said flange and web by engagement therewith, the other member being movable and associable with the valance rail so disposed that a plane passing through the longitudinal axes of the pivot and the last mentioned movable member contains a contour of the hook or a projected bent contour thereof, the hook being so disposed that the valance rail when in position serves to prevent pivotal movement of said member to open said jaws, the pivotally connected members being provided with counterpartal projection and orifice catch means to limit their relative angular movement.

ARTHUR POWELL. 

